The Castle Cellars

Litomyšl

Olbram Zoubek

Olbram Zoubek was born in April 1926 in the Prague district named Žižkov. The arrival of a new teacher of creative art at the Prague vocational school, at which students began to learn sculpture instead of drawing, was an important step in his career as a sculptor. The young Olbram found a talent for this art within himself and decided to take up sculpture as a career. On finishing education shortly after the War he applied for a place at the Academy of Creative Arts, but was not admitted. However, he got to the School of Arts and Industrial Design , which in the end proved to be a stroke of luck as a number of renowned artists were teaching at there at the time. Olbram Zoubek was assigned to the studio of Professor Josef Vágner, who brought together only the most talented artists into his group. One of these students was Eva Kmenová, who later became a world-renowned sculptor and also Olbram's first wife.

Josef Vagner also taught his students restoration and this was a great gift which Zoubek used throughout his life. In fact, he publically disagreed with the communist regime and therefore was unable to work freely, or to exhibit and sell his works, hence restoration became his main source of income. He worked on the restoration of the sgrafitto in the ball room at Prague Castle and, based on this experience he was commissioned to restore the outer wall decorations on Litomyšl Castle. His time spent working outside the capital was meant as a punishment of some kind, a period of exile, but it was also a happy period. He worked here with similarly-affected colleagues, the excellent artists Zdeněk Palcr, Václav Boštík and Stanislav Podrázský. Together they restored the original castle sgrafittoes, and also had the opportunity to use their artistic license in those parts that were not preserved, thanks to which the Litomyšl Castle is not only a wonderful renaissance monument, but is also a huge gallery of modern art by illustrious Czech artists. During the 17 seasons of work in progress, Olbram Zoubek got married for the second time in Litomyšl and lived between Prague and Litomyšl, therefore he donated his sculpture collection, built up throughout his life, to this exhibition in the castle cellars. Olbram Zoubek passed away on 15th June 2017.

1971 Adam, Eve and the Serpent1971 The Father of Fathers, the Mother of Mothers and the Son1971 The Guards (Jan Palach, Jan Zajíc)1972 The Runner1972 Prometheus1973 Family 3: Eva 1973 Family 3: Olbram1973 Family 3: Jasan1973 Family 3: Polana1976 Standing Lady1976 Striding Young Man1976 Standing Lady1984 Lady Standing Up1984 Body of a Lady Lying Down1984 Kuros' Body1984 Torso of a Welcoming Lady1984 Torso of a Lady1984 Body of a Kora with Drapery1984 Lady with Falling Hair1985 Breast and Shoulders of a Fighter from Aulis1985 Fighter from Aulis1985-86 Stentor the Messenger1985-86 Lady from Chalkis1985-86 Menelaus1985-86 Clytemnestra1985-86 Agamemnon1985-86 Iphigenia

1985-86 Achilleus1985-86 Phoenix the Old Man1985-86 Achaeans1985-86 Talthybius - the Priest 1986 František Husák in the Role of Agamemnon1986 Jan Přeučil in the Role of Menelaus1988 Clytemnestra the Queen1989 Iphigenia before the Sacrifice1989 Recreationers1990 Falling Man1990 Stricken Man1991 Warped Torso1991 Degression1991 Eva the Elderberry Soul1992 Vladimír1992 Olbram!1992 The Other River Bank1992 Zdena1992 Alena1992 Čestmír1992 Mirek1993 You and I1995 Annunciation1995 Hynek, Vilém, Jarmila!1996 Sergej1998 Libuše1998 With Zdeněk 1998 With Jindřich